


Paradox

by Chie (Chierafied)



Series: Reader Prompts SK [29]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, F/M, Humor, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Time Travel, Timeline Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 22:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14861481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chierafied/pseuds/Chie
Summary: One moment, future had seemed quite clear to Higurashi Kagome. The next moment, she is actually lookingherselfin the eye... and what on Earth is she doing with Sesshoumaru?!





	Paradox

Kagome picked up her pace and balled her hands into fists.

“No!” she barked, her voice strained by impatience. “I told you I needed two weeks and that’s what I’m going to take.”

“Damnit, Kagome, we don’t have any time to waste! Two weeks is too long!”

“Like it or not, Inuyasha, I have to sit through my exams. Two weeks is non-negotiable.”

Inuyasha growled and glared at Kagome from under the bill of the baseball cap he wore to cover his ears.

“And while you’re out here being examined, Naraku’s gathering more Shikon shards!”

“I know!” Kagome snapped. “But unlike you, I have a life outside of shard hunting, and I’m doing the best I can to maintain a balance between – don’t you growl at me!”

Kagome propped her hands on her hips, indignant, but Inuyasha wasn’t paying any attention to her.

He was staring fixedly down the street, his lips curled back in a snarl.

Kagome was so _done_ and just about to ask what the heck Inuyasha’s problem was, when she felt it.

A prickle in the air; faint, but undeniable in its origin. Familiar _youki_ , somewhere close by.

Kagome stared down the street, trying to see who had caught Inuyasha’s attention… and then she spotted him.

Tall and broad-shouldered. The silver-white hair was unmistakable, even though it had been cut short in the modern fashion.

Kagome was moving before any conscious thought registered.

“Oi, Kagome,” Inuyasha hissed. “What hell are you doing?”

But Kagome kept walking forward, her quick steps eating up the distance.

Inuyasha cursed and rushed after her.

They had almost reached the youkai, when he suddenly turned around.

Both Kagome and Inuyasha stopped short.

The demon looked hauntingly familiar.

In fact, he could’ve been a mirror image of Sesshoumaru, if not for two small details: he lacked Sesshoumaru’s facial markings and his eyes were blue.

Blue and warm, and wide with both shock and recognition as he stared at the two of them, equally stunned.

Then, he opened his mouth and spoke.

Who would’ve known it’d only take a single word to seal Kagome’s fate.

“Mother?”

After a couple of long flabbergasted seconds, Kagome managed a wheezy “what?”

The youkai ignored Inuyasha – who was busy swearing like a sailor – and gave Kagome a baffled once-over. “What on Earth are you wearing?”

Kagome shook her head. What the hell was going on?

And more importantly, who –

“Who the hell are you?” Inuyasha demanded, pushing himself between Kagome and the demon.

The youkai frowned. “Come on, Uncle Inu. That’s not funny.”

Inuyasha took a step forward, snarling. The youkai narrowed his eyes, and _youki_ crackled in the air.

The situation might have gone very badly from there – when something even more mindboggling happened.

All of a sudden, Inuyasha and the youkai were yanked apart.

Kagome gasped, as she met the cold golden eyes she knew.

“Not here, you fools,” Sesshoumaru said, his voice threateningly quiet, while still maintaining a good grip on both Inuyasha’s and the other youkai’s necks. “If you want to brawl like barbarians, do it out of the prying eyes of the humans.”

The other youkai was looking sheepish now. “I’m sorry.”

Inuyasha, however, twisted in Sesshoumaru’s grip so he could glare at him. “What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?”

The other youkai gaped at Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru deposited him down. “Go on now, Masaru. Our lunch is postponed.”

The other youkai – Masaru – nodded and left in a hurry.

Unease slithered in the pit of Kagome’s stomach. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru looked just about ready to tear into each other’s throats, but then, what else was new?

So she squared her shoulders and stamped down her growing discomfort.

“Let him go, Sesshoumaru!”

And that was when the time truly stopped.

Kagome blinked in confusion and tilted her head.

Was she hearing things now, too? Because she could’ve sworn there’d just been the weirdest stereo-effect, except…

Kagome took three slow steps to the left – and saw the figure standing behind Sesshoumaru, a hand propped on her hip.

Kagome’s head swam. Her knees buckled.

And Sesshoumaru was there to catch her, before she could slump inelegantly onto the street.

His chest was hard, his arm around her secure and oddly gentle.

But Kagome was too overwhelmed by everything at this point. She couldn’t make sense of what Sesshoumaru was asking her in a soft, concerned voice. She just stared at the woman standing across from her. Fought to get air into her lungs.

From there, things were a blur. She knew they were moving, but didn’t know where they were going. Sesshoumaru had wrapped his arm around her shoulders and was leading her somewhere. Kagome’s numb legs obeyed without a question.

The next time Kagome was actually aware of her surroundings, she was sitting in a private corner booth of a family restaurant.

Inuyasha was sulking by her side, and across the table sat Sesshoumaru – and _her_.

Kagome stared at the woman for a long moment, her brain refusing to accept what her eyes were seeing.

And when she finally remembered how to form words, they tumbled off her tongue in the quick succession of a nervous babble.

“I don’t understand. Isn’t this against the rules? How can we meet here like this without screwing up the timeline? Shouldn’t this be like a paradox or something? Or _create_ one?”

Kagome wrung her hands and stared across the table. It was unnerving, to look yourself in the eye – even though the other “you” was smiling in a friendly and reassuring manner.

“Don’t worry, this meeting won’t mess up the timeline,” the other Kagome said.

Was that what her voice really sounded like?

Ugh, there was just too much going on for her brain to process.

“How can you be sure?” Kagome demanded.

The blue eyes twinkled, crow’s feet crinkling in the corners.

Kagome felt more at ease, seeing the lines she didn’t yet have. Something visual to mark their difference.

“Because I remember this day,” she replied simply. “Perhaps it is a paradox of some sort – I never really got the hang of the intricacies of time travel… But I remember this. Meeting an older version of myself. Sitting down with her. Having a chat.”

A shiver travelled down Kagome’s spine and her skin erupted in gooseflesh.

“I remember it well,” the other one said, locking her gaze with Kagome’s. “After all, looking back, that day changed my life.”

Kagome looked away and hugged herself. Cold fear was creeping up her chest now.

In her heart and in her gut she _knew_.

Somewhere deep down, her other self’s words rang true. But her mind protested, shrieking its denial.

Desperate to avoid the haunting sight of two pairs of eyes that were both familiar and foreign at the same time, Kagome’s gaze fixated on the pair of hands resting on the table. Clasping each other in such an easy comfort that the gesture must’ve been habitual.

Kagome wouldn’t have believed it possible, but the sight of those hands managed to confuse her poor brain even further.

Naturally, Inuyasha chose that moment to boil over.  

“What the hell is this shit?” he growled, gesturing wildly at the other Kagome and Sesshoumaru, his claws flexing.

His barely contained anger showed in the tense lines of his muscles.

“It is as it seems,” Sesshoumaru replied calmly. “An unfortunate crossing of timelines.”

The other Kagome shook her head and touched Sesshoumaru’s shoulder. “Very fortunate, for us.”

Sesshoumaru looked at the other Kagome and smiled. “Indeed,” he agreed, then brought their joined hands to his lips. He pressed a kiss on the back of the other Kagome’s hand.

Kagome was pretty sure her eyes were bugging out.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, was growling again.

“The other youkai, from earlier... He was…?”

Kagome couldn’t bring herself to finish her question. The word got stuck in her throat.

“Masaru,” Sesshoumaru replied. “Our son.”

“One of our sons,” the other Kagome amended.

The beginnings of a headache pounded on Kagome’s temples.

“How many are there?” Inuyasha asked, and Kagome wished he hadn’t.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Sons – or children altogether?” Sesshoumaru returned, looking Inuyasha in the eye.

Inuyasha sputtered.

The other Kagome was smoothing down her hair, looking sheepish. “Let’s just say there are several.”

“Of each,” Sesshoumaru added, his evil grin aimed at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha’s face was turning purple and Kagome wondered if he might be choking on his tongue.

“Several?” Kagome echoed, feeling faint again.

“Well, you know… It took the better part of four centuries to develop reliable contraceptives,” the other Kagome said, shrugging her shoulders.

“And abstinence was not an option,” Sesshoumaru added, his golden eyes flashing as he slanted a look at the other Kagome.

_Oh dear lord._ Kagome blushed.

Inuyasha was making the choking sound again.

“Don’t worry about it,” the other Kagome said, her voice gentle, her eyes kind.

Kagome nodded.

But despite her older self’s reassurances, she _was_ going to worry. If future had been unclear before, it felt thoroughly muddled to her now.

After everything she had learned about today, about everything that might be waiting for her in the years to come… it just wasn’t physically possible not to worry.

Because it would take Kagome quite some time to come to terms with all of this.

Although on the plus side, Kagome mused, noting the smile her other self and Sesshoumaru shared, she would have centuries to get used to it.


End file.
